More than 10,000 British jobs are on the line after rescue talks collapsed at Peacocks Group, in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths went bust.

The clothing retailer fell into administration after a potential saviour grew cold on buying the Peacocks-branded part of the business.

When Woolworths collapsed three years ago, 30,000 jobs were lost. Since then large numbers of retailers have gone into insolvency, most recently Past Times, Hawkin’s Bazaar and La Senza, though not on the same scale as Woolworths until now.

Bonmarche, Peacocks’ smaller sister chain, has not yet entered administration although it has filed its notice